My Russian Strategy

[canuckgamer]

I would appreciate any comments about my Russian strategy. I hope that the historical weather is in the upcoming patch and that when it is installed it will occur in our PBEM game which is now the end of September 1940. In other words I hope the patch changes will only be applied if it is installed before the start of a new game. I held out in France until mid September as he opted for the conquest.
Up to now for the Russians I have built 2 tank corps with the rest being infantry corps. I have been and plan to upgrade the tank and mech corps to 1940 heavy armour. I also plan to upgrade 2 interceptors and 2 bombers to 1941. I move all my air to the Finnish front out of range of the Luftwaffe. I will be defending in depth with my infantry corps meaning a second and possibly third line with at least a hex separating each line in positions where they benefit from terrain. Starting January 41 I am thinking of saving production points so that when the Germans invade I can immediately build 6 or 7 infantry armies. I find the deployment of forming armies quite variable.
I will have 6 AA in Leningrad, Sevastopol, and Moscow although not all three will have the max at the start of Barbarossa. I also will have about 8 coastal defence to place in various hexes such as the Crimea peninsula.
One of the things I have yet to figure out is how you keep the Finns from moving adjacent to Leningrad since it really restricts the movement of any land units in and out of the port. I would like to be able to hold hexes 189,79 185,78 and 186,79. It also seems to me that Leningrad being the closest to the border with Germany is the most difficult to hold. The key to me is preventing the Germans from capturing the Caucasus oil fields. That is made more difficult because weather
does not hit the southern front as soon as it does in front of Moscow and Leningrad.
Look forward to any feedback.

[canuckgamer]

Sorry I meant to say that I hope the changes in the patch such as the historical weather will be applied to our PBEM game even though we are part way through it.

[CHINCHIN]

I don't build mechanized-armored, they are expensive, they will move 5 until the event, for a little more strength, I think they are not worth it. I build all possible infantry corps to accumulate manpower on the map and not lose it, since there is a maximum.

When the invasion starts, I dismantle mechanized bodies of 20 experience, and with that plus some saved PP I create about 6 armies. I do not update technology in airplanes or mechanized, and in infantry only in some.

The main thing is not to lose too many units, take precautions so that the enemy doesn't leave too many units unsupplied and not lose Moscow, the rest doesn't matter in my opinion.

[AlvaroSousa]

I don't build mechanized-armored, they are expensive, they will move 5 until the event, for a little more strength, I think they are not worth it. I build all possible infantry corps to accumulate manpower on the map and not lose it, since there is a maximum.

When the invasion starts, I dismantle mechanized bodies of 20 experience, and with that plus some saved PP I create about 6 armies. I do not update technology in airplanes or mechanized, and in infantry only in some.

The main thing is not to lose too many units, take precautions so that the enemy doesn't leave too many units unsupplied and not lose Moscow, the rest doesn't matter in my opinion.

Which is what the Russians did early in the war.

[canuckgamer]

Didn't the last patch change the operational points of Russian armour and mechanzied to 7 beginning April 1942? Or is that in the upcoming patch?

[MagicMissile]

Didn't the last patch change the operational points of Russian armour and mechanzied to 7 beginning April 1942? Or is that in the upcoming patch?

Yes they have 7 in April now.

I do not build anything else but inf corps I dont touch the airforce and I upgrade arm/mech to 41 tech.

/MM

[stjeand]

Yes early I only build infantry because they need a ZOC in every possible hex. Being able to build 5 infantry corps or 2 mech corps is a HUGE difference early.

Russia has excess man power early and needs the units on the map.

Now outside of this everyone knows...

Dig in units behind rivers.
Try to leave a 1 hex buffer between all your troops and the German units.
If a unit is not able to "escape" move away from your troops to cause a ZOC and not create a hex that the Germans can attack next to your units and move in without ZOC effects.
Mech and Armor cover rail lines across the river to slow German supply.

TRY to keep Odessa and Riga as long as you can...those create supply and new rail deeper in Russia faster. Though Riga is not a big a deal.

Save your air till the winter if you can and only strike at armor units that potentially get out or air cover. YOU just want to slow them. 2 MP lost and efficiency lost is huge. But losing to many air is not good either as you can't recover them quickly. In the winter the German air will weaken quickly due to the weather whereas yours is unaffected...outside of the Finnish air. Best to avoid that unit entirely other than hoping you can run the Finns out of oil early and that give you some ability to bomb units in the North and gain air experience.

It is likely best to save your air for 42 and use them to slow the Germans if all goes badly. I never strike infantry since they are slow and focus LOTS of attack on the armor.

IF the UK have air be sure to bomb France and Germany with hopes that they have to keep a few fighters there so there are less in Germany.

KEEP an eye on German air losses. It is unlikely that they can afford to repair their air units until late 42/43 as they are trying to knock Russia out and need everything for their ground forces.

Watch for good defense hexes and place units there on hold to just be in the way.

Build a few Coastal Defenses for around Lenningrad. Yes that is not what they are used for but you can't build minefields, maybe in WP2...they will give your units 30% more defense though there are a handful of places you can put them. I am sure Al will fix that in WP2 but take advantage while you can. Then again I suspect there will be forts and other things you may be able to create in the next version so pretend they are those.

I was never the best Russian player...and have not played WPE in a while as I spend my time learning WPP more and more...

I think though it may be time to come back for a few games after the next update.

[sveint]

Not going into details, but one of the simplest and most effective Soviet strategies is to simply only build infantry until war breaks out.

Spending PP on AA guns and other things is very risky unless you know exactly what you'll be using them for.